Stellar Blade Review – Nearly Automatic Angel

If you’ve glanced at a trailer or piece of artwork for SHIFT UP’s Stellar Blade, chances are you’ve seen the focus on Eve and the character designs from Kim Hung Tae of Magna Carta and Destiny Child fame. Beneath that shiny latex exterior lies a mechanically interesting action game that’s been modeled from the likes of Nier Automata and modern Souls games. Stellar Blade is a new action RPG that rises to the occasion in more ways than one.

Being a combat Angel is tough work. You get sent out on dangerous missions with a low survival rate, cut through waves and hordes of foes of both organic and mechanical nature, and still get saddled with odd side quests to track down missing teddy bears or fish up a whale shark from time to time. That’s all in a day’s work for Eve, an android sent out on behalf of an all-powerful entity known as Mother Sphere.

There is a major Souls influence that forms the building blocks of Stellar Blade that may turn some players away. While there isn’t a stamina system to contend with, there is a sort of Balance/Poise system at play along with shielding for both enemies and players. Strip that shielding away and massive damage can be dealt to Eve or foe alike with the player only able to take a handful of hits before meeting an early demise and being forced to restart from the last checkpoint; a campfire with a cooking stew and vending machine to recharge on consumables. In typical Souls fashion, enemies all respawn upon resting at one of these checkpoints but Eve will also recover her estus flasks Rechargable Tumbler count as well. Unlockable shortcuts cut down on a lot of the backtracking and were a welcome addition during the longer stretches of the more linear areas.

Eve’s primary method of attack is a hair ornament that transforms into her sword, just in case you were wondering where she stored a meter-and-a-half-long blade. Most of the basic attacks are performed with the Square button while the Triangle button used for combo attacks or signature moves that can be unlocked via a modest skill tree. Eve eventually unlocks a couple of additional tech trees for Beta and Burst skills. Each of these takes a resource that fills over time from attacking/taking damage as well as perfectly timed evasions/blocks. These are much more powerful skills and can be used to chip away at an enemy’s Balance or deal massive damage to those around you. While there are a few signature attacks that are worth upgrading first, players will find themselves using all of the two dozen different attacks available to Eve. For those that might find the combat to be too punishing and reliant on blocking and countering, Stellar Blade offers a lower difficulty setting as well as accessibility modifiers to slow down time for players to input the correct block/dodge input. Players will still get killed if not careful, but at least they can take a few extra hits on the easier mode.

The combat has a delicate dance in one-vs-one situations when the player has room to maneuver and can get a careful read on the enemy’s attacks and defend accordingly. However, in most instances outside of boss fights, players will be mobbed up by enemies that hide around corners or link together once they hear a fight in progress. Stellar Blade has some issues with the camera and keeping tabs on all of the enemies coming after Eve at once and blocking an attack from one enemy might leave you open to getting hit from the side by another. 

Stellar Blade takes place across a wide range of post-apocalyptic landscapes, each with significantly different level designs and exploration mantras. The first locale that players visit, Eidos VII, is an abandoned metropolis that’s been overgrown with vegetation and murderous Naytiba enemies littered throughout. It’s an expansive playground with, while there is a certain throughline to follow, a variety of side paths and shortcuts to unlock that can tickle the fancy of any Souls veteran. Midway through the level is an entire city block submerged beneath the waves. While Eve is equipped with swimming potential, the water is hazardous and kills her once she’s in the water. A later side quest has Eve return to the locale, drain the area by reactivating a water pump, and suddenly there’s an entirely new area to explore with sidequests to boot. 

Exploration is a recurring theme in Stellar Blade and was a major draw to keep my attention during the 40-plus hours I played. Side quests are routinely doled out from the main hub city of Xion and sees Eve retread familiar ground, often with a new passcode to unlock a previously impassable door or new traversal upgrades such as a double jump or improved hacking ability for her floating drone ally. These quests are usually bookended with materials to upgrade Eve’s gear or a new outfit, so they’re usually worth taking the time off the beaten path and forgetting about the sense of urgency to go tackle a powerful boss. If you keep up with all of the sidequests as they happen, you’ll most likely be overburdened with dozens of materials and upgrade parts even after you’ve capped out that particular enhancement, so it’s better to approach them in moderation and sometimes skip over a chest or two from time to time.

Eve can be viewed in the same vein as 2B. They both share a similar ideology of blindly working for the greater good while becoming more and more aware to the horrors of Earth and the history behind it all. At the same time, both android ladies are incredibly aloof when it comes to self-awareness. It takes all of the style and flair from a female protagonist such as Bayonetta without realizing that they’re actually cool and sexy. Where Bayonetta made a show of her assets, Stellar Blade instead freely puts them on display like an exhibit at the British Museum.

For most of Stellar Blade, I didn’t have much of a problem with Eve’s designs. Most of her body suit outfits early on are form-fitting and meant to accentuate her form without being too revealing. That sentiment changed once I found an assortment of skirts, each shorter than the last, and trying to dive underwater and swim with the camera angle firmly planted at her crotch was an awkward proposition to convince my wife of its artistic merits. Shift Up takes every opportunity it can to make Eve’s backend the star of the show, from flashy finishers where she jackknifes in the air, to folding like a cheap suit any time she tries to open a treasure chest or take a seat at the numerous bonfire-esque campsites. It wasn’t until the final chapters of Stellar Blade that I realized you could simply remove her outfit and switch into the Skin Suit that was making its rounds during the initial demo phase. Not only is that particular outfit designed to be as flesh-toned as possible, but the artists took time to handcraft an exterior that showcases shadows and depth to her butt crack. It’s certainly an intentional choice and if you thought the likes of Bayonetta and 2B weren’t titillating enough for your action gameplay, Eve is the next natural evolution.

No butts about it, Stellar Blade is a marvelous feast for the eyes and a technically impressive action RPG. Those who find the hyper-sexualized Eve offputting will find little redemption in finding some modesty for the playable heroine, but at the same time, those already accustomed to the years following Bayonetta’s release and 2Booty memes will find the character designs enjoyable, to say the least. Stellar Blade is a fantastic action title and one PlayStation exclusive you’ll have to play after the kids go to bed.

Stellar Blade

Taking a step back from Kim Hung Tae’s character designs for a moment, Stellar Blade is a phenomenal action RPG that evolves from the framework of NieR Replicant and NieR Automata to become one of the next cult classics.

Buy for $69.99 from Amazon

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